Biofeedback Training for APA Continuing Education Credit

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APA continuing education credit is a valuable resource for professionals in the field of psychology who want to stay up-to-date on the latest research and techniques. One area of study that is gaining popularity is biofeedback training, which involves using technology to monitor and provide feedback on physiological processes in order to improve health and well-being. APA continuing education credit for biofeedback training can provide psychologists with the knowledge and skills they need to effectively use this technique with their clients.

Biofeedback training is a type of complementary and alternative medicine that has been shown to be effective in treating a variety of conditions, including chronic pain, anxiety, and high blood pressure. It involves the use of sensors to monitor physiological processes such as heart rate, breathing rate, and muscle tension, and provides immediate feedback to the individual in the form of visual or auditory cues. This feedback can help individuals learn to control these physiological processes and improve their health and well-being.

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Biofeedback Equipment, 5 Things You Need to Know

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Are you thinking of getting biofeedback equipment?  Here are 5 things you need to know.

  1. What is it measuring? Biofeedback instruments may measure different things.  All biofeedback instruments are not the same.  There are different modalities that can be measured including surface EMG for muscle tension, Skin Temperature, Skin Conductance, Respiration, Heart Rate, Heart Rate Variability, EEG, and CO2 (Capnometry).  Some biofeedback equipment measures only one of these modalities.  Others may measure up to 10 separate channels at the same time.
  1. Do I have a reliable signal? The feedback that the instrument provides is only as good as the quality of the signal.  If the signal is not accurate it is not a good representation of the changes happening in the body.  Some biofeedback equipment makes it easy to see the quality of the signal.  Other instruments may hide the actual signal and only show you a game or give you sound that is supposed to be reacting to the signal.

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The Role of Biofeedback Equipment in Stress Management

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Stress management is a huge subject.  There are many methods of managing stress.

One thing that is constant is that the body reacts to stress in several ways, many of which can be measured using biofeedback equipment.  People who are experiencing stress often have sensations that they can feel, if they are sensitive and present enough without biofeedback equipment.  These sensations may be related to changes in cardiovascular activity like your heart beating faster or more forcefully, blood vessels constricting, muscles contracting, increased sweat, changes in brain activity, or changes in digestive activity.  These changes are related to what is called physiology.  Whether a person feels these changes or not, they are happening.  What biofeedback equipment can do is make the invisible, visible.
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What Can You Do About Stress?

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Stress tends to trigger the fight, flight, or flee response which is supposed to be an emergency state which lasts for only a short time.  When there is not a short-term emergency requiring a physical response then the state can last for a long time.  It may also be triggered repeatedly over a long period of time.  When this happens, negative symptoms including pain, headaches, cardiovascular problems, and insomnia can result.
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Biofeedback Applications in Education

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Biofeedback is a process that uses technology to measure and feed back information about a person’s physiology so that they can learn how to gain increased control over it.  It is used clinically in healthcare settings by licensed mental or physical medicine professionals including psychologists, social workers, mental health counselors, physical therapists, chiropractors, nurses, occupational therapists, and rehab therapists.  It can also be used in educational settings.

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Biofeedback and Neurofeedback Applications for Military and Law Enforcement

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Military service people and law enforcement officers have a lot in common.  In fact, many military veterans go into law enforcement after their military careers end.  Two other similarities are that both military service and law enforcement involve high stress and require high levels of performance.  Both, at times, can come with daily life or death high-stress situations.  These service people and officers naturally would experience their fight or flight responses being activated more often than most other people. It is also super important that they both perform their duties at a high level.  Many lives may depend on how well they perform.

Biofeedback and neurofeedback can apply to both, helping people manage stress and improve performance.  We don’t have to wait until there is a clinical problem.  These interventions can be used to prevent problems, help people manage stress, and improve performance.

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How to Use Biofeedback Equipment

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Biofeedback Equipment is a process that uses instruments that record physiological signals from a person’s body and then display the information so that a person can learn to change the signal that is being measured.  One therapeutic application of biofeedback is for helping people with stress-related disorders.  In this context sensors may be attached to a client and signals including muscle tension, breathing, and heart rate is measured and displayed on a computer screen.  The client with the help of coaching from a therapist learns to control these signals and bring them to a more relaxed level.

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Biofeedback Training for Mental Health Disorders

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Mental health disorders including anxiety, PTSD, and depression seem to have become more widespread over the past several years.  Is it that more information has become available and there is less of a stigma for people to seek mental health services?  Is it a combination of effects of the pandemic, mass shootings, and national and international unrest?  Whatever the reason is, the fact is that help is needed.  Biofeedback training is among the many effective tools that mental health professionals can use to help people suffering from mental health challenges.

Psychologists and other mental health providers tend to do a lot of talking and paperwork as a part of their routine.  Some of this can become monotonous.  Biofeedback can introduce technology that helps the clients of mental health providers to learn about themselves.  It helps them to learn how to make real, physiological, measurable changes.  They learn to change how their body reacts to stress using biofeedback.

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Unique Training Options for APA Continuing Education Credit

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Most psychologists in the United States need to attend training to keep up with new developments in the field and to remind them of things that they may have learned a long time ago.

There are many options for training including face-to-face programs, online programs, and material that psychologists can read.  There is a multitude of different topics that can be studied.  Since psychologists have to take training, it makes sense to make it something interesting, enjoyable, and useful.  Biofeedback and neurofeedback are subjects that check all of those boxes.  Psychologists tend to do a lot of talking and paperwork as a part of their routine.  Some of this can become monotonous.  Biofeedback and neurofeedback use technology that helps the clients of psychologists learn about themselves.  It helps them to learn how to make real, physiological, measurable changes.  They can learn to change how their body reacts to stress using biofeedback.  They can train their brain to become more regulated through neurofeedback.

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Biofeedback Supplies and Technology

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What supplies do you need to have to use biofeedback technology?  Some biofeedback modalities require little or no supplies while others require consumable supplies that you need a ready inventory of.

A Plethysmograph (PPG) sensor which is used to measure Heart Rate, Blood Volume, and Heart Rate variability may use a clip or Velcro band that is permanently attached to the sensor.  In this case, there would be no replaceable supplies needed.

The Electrocardiograph (EKG) sensor measures Heart Rate and Heart Rate Variability.  The EKG sensor uses adhesive disposable sensors that stick to the skin and snap or clip to the electrode cable.  These usually come in packages of 50 – 300.  Alcohol prep pads are used to clean the skin before applying the sensors.

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